At War With Politics: A Journey from Traditional Political Science to Black Politics

By Dr Stephen Graves PhD

Is politics the best way to make changes in your community? How can one find a political identity? What is the relationship between Black identity and the US political field?

Through reflection and recollection, author Stephen Graves explores these questions as he describes his journey from young Black student, to politician, to teaching at a university level – all as a way to engage with and effect change in his community. Focusing on the author’s lived experience, this book will bring life to political theory and studies of American politics.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lived Places Publishing
• Release date: Oct 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9781915271105

Dr Stephen Graves PhD

Dr Stephen Graves PhD is Director of Undergraduates Studies for the Department of Black Studies at the University of Missouri. Specializing in Black Politics, Political Theory, and American Government, he is also the founder of Troublesome Movement, a non-profit organization that focuses on community outreach and providing educational and professional services to minorities and underprivileged groups. He is an affiliate member of the Department of Political Science and the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy.

Book preview

Learning objectives

The text inspires an interdisciplinary literary review of several related bodies of theory about the diversity of the Black lived experience. Focusing on the central topic of resilience in the face of adversity while searching not only for an identity, but a career, consider:

• What is the impact of structural racism on the ability for self-identifying?

• Is the pursuit of truth compatible with the acquisition of the American Dream?

• Are current academic viewpoints about fear, hate, 
compassion, and success in need of a post-COVID-19 reevaluation?

Preface

Throughout my career I have kept many of the books, notes, and notepads going back to my undergraduate days. Many of the books that currently sit on my shelf have survived the journey with me for over 20 years. The ideas and papers that I wrote are still accessible and I still go through them. Part of what made this project what it has become is the ability to experience the evolution of those ideas over time, from an angry 18-year-old, first-time college student to a teacher writing about the same topics and concepts I did as a teenager. Having access to my earliest thoughts and ideas was important. Although some of these ideas may be troublesome for some to read, I can assure you they are expressed with the greatest intent for the common good.

When I was first approached about doing this project, the first question I asked was, how honest can I be? In instances where I am speaking or writing about myself, my strategy has always been to be as honest and authentic as possible or allowed. The academic journey was not difficult for me to write about. It has never been difficult for me to talk about. I have shared it with my students many times over the years. I find nothing in my thought processes or experiences as a student to be anything to be ashamed about or ashamed to share. As in life, the journey often gets muddy, uncomfortable, and sometimes dark. Over the years, my reflections over my academic career have brought me a great sense of joy. I have always felt that if my story can help one student succeed, then I would regard it as a success. I was once that one student.

There is a lot to be said about the human condition and how I learned to navigate through life with what appeared to me at the time was constant disappointment and suffering. I learned a lot not only about myself, but also about my surroundings and the different types of people I encountered: across the economic spectrum, all races, levels of education, and ages. As much as people were different, there were consistent themes and behaviors that I witnessed. Part of theorizing and philosophizing about politics is making generalizations, in particular about the human condition. As much as people want to be different and express their individuality, there are certain elements that hold true across the human condition. We all want safety, to be healthy, and for opportunities to be successful. Yet, we all deal differently with the obstacles and adversity we face in acquiring these things. It is not so much what we want out of life as much as it is how we all envision ourselves getting there. There is no doubt that I did not envision my career in politics or education going the way it does in these pages. And yet, by writing this book, I could not imagine it going any other way.

Introduction

Growing up, I would have never thought for a day that I would be a teacher. I thought I would go to college but never imagined I would get a degree in political science. My earliest hopes and dreams involved playing college sports on my way to being a professional athlete or being a child star on Nickelodeon or on the Mickey Mouse Club. As children, my brothers and I used to sing and dance in our mother’s living room like the Jacksons or New Edition. I had little knowledge or understanding of politics. My parents never talked about political parties or candidates, and I did not know any Black teachers as a child. The first Black teacher I ever had was a substitute named Mr Walden. When I was in sixth grade I had my first full-time Black teacher, Ms Williams. She was the first teacher that could get me to quit being a class clown and my mom picked her out specifically, even pulling me out of the class I was in and physically walking me to the principal and telling her to put me in Ms Williams’s class. The journey into a career in teaching was unexpected and full of trials and tribulations. To be teaching political science is startling, even to me.

Writing this book definitely brought back many memories and thoughts about my overall experience in academia and working in politics. While many could not be shared, I certainly did my best to be as authentic and genuine as possible. So why would I write a book about my lived experiences en route to becoming a professor? First, I do not think that this story is all that original or unique to my particular experience alone. Sometimes it seems like people are in such a hurry to be different and express their individuality that they forget that there are millions of people out there who are quite possibly going through many of the same challenges. There is a sense of comfort that soothes a spirit when it feels like it isn’t the only one suffering. There are millions of kids going through high school and college right now, trying to find themselves and discover what they believe in or what they want to be. If my journey is able to assist anyone out there who is going through a similar journey, or even considering it, then I will feel accomplished.

Second, I see a lot of myself in the trials and frustrations of the Black students who currently major in political science. A lot of students ask me, how the hell did you end up in politics? There is a lot in traditional political science that turns Black people off. There is a lot in the practice of politics that turns Black people off: its history of racism and white supremacy, the inadequacies in America’s election system, and the sheer lack of representation of Black people in political science careers, not just in teaching it. Yet, not having a Black face in the classroom to help navigate very important topics that frame our existence in this country can be problematic and traumatizing. I hear Black students’ stories of the comments made by their white peers, emboldened by their majority status and the lack of courage by professors to thwart the continued ignorance that many white students perpetuate. I teach Black students who are living in a constant state of having to defend themselves and their community publicly in front of their white peers. The tradition of political science has devolved into a discipline with very little social value in a nation that currently is dealing with political chaos. Black people in the US are also looking for ways to explain the political trappings they consistently encounter, and they are looking for answers to dismantle the institutional racism that permeates the nation. If progress is to ever take place in the US, I do believe it will take a change in the way we study and learn about politics. Better yet, how we come to understand politics.

There are many important themes and concepts that help frame this work, including Black identity and political identity. The role that a person’s identification plays in their confidence and mental well-being is an important element of Black identity. Identities are first and foremost adopted to serve basic needs such as autonomy and to manage relations (Ryan & Deci, 2003). Identification serves to increase a person’s feelings of worth and importance by exhibiting values or characteristics that are well-received by others. There are two main dimensions in which a person’s identity plays out: internal and external. Internal dimensions refer to inherent, genetic attributes over which the individual has no control, such as color or ancestry. External dimensions are those based on political, social, and economic forces including certain cultural phenomena. A Black identity is described as an individual and collective conscious effort by people of African descent to be self-naming and self-defining as a means to increase the human respect and dignity of African people and their descendants (Claybook, 2021). The socio-historical and political context of the 1960s redefined and recreated what it meant to be Black in America. One of the biggest factors that contributes to Black identity is the belief that Africans have their own ontology or concept of universal reality. The psychological foundation of this distinct and unique concept of reality traces its beginnings back to ancient Kemet civilization around 3200 BC. Since I attended predominately white institutions until I attended Howard University, a premier historically Black college (HBCU) located in Washington, DC, much of my academic and educational experience is centered on investigating and exploring my own Black identity and the challenges in doing so.

Not only did my Black identity evolve, but I was additionally tasked with learning about and forming a political identity. Political identities refer to identification with and meaning attributed to membership in politically relevant groups, including political parties and national, ethnic, linguistic, or gender groups (Huddy, 2013). There is an important functional element to political identity, insofar as it plays an important role in sustaining a person’s allegiance and loyalty to their political community. For example, research has shown that individuals who strongly identify with their group are more likely to act on behalf of group-related causes, to view the political environment in antagonistic terms, and to act defensively in the face of group criticism. Thus, my exploration into Black identity became consequentially aligned with my political identity. I almost immediately associated my political beliefs with Black culture and the injustices experienced by Black people in the US. Black politics was life. And it was everywhere.

Politically, Black identity provides Black people with a racialized political identity around which to mobilize and organize. For Black Americans, who view the US as a racialized environment, redefining one’s individual and collective racialized identity, from one of shame and humiliation due to the history of slavery and racism, to one of affirmation and pride is a form of resistance. Black activists in the 1960s constructed a positive and reaffirming racialized identity developed out of a shared history of experiences for people of African descent. Material conditions and the lived experiences of struggling against exploitative and racist conditions shape and reshape Black identities. People of African descent continue to shape their identities by their resistance to and transformative efforts against racist institutions and societal practices. Their retention of their African culture, which is empowering, as well as shared experiences with racism, which are oppressive, represent the arena in which their identity is forged. A Black identity is political in its struggle against racist power dynamics and structures. A strong sense of Black identity is threatened by the constant repression that many Black people face in predominately white institutions.

Consequently, much of the material that makes up this lived experience is contained within this contentious contest of looking for an identity that is negatively perceived in one’s immediate environment. In many instances, this experience can lead to a disconnect from Blackness that many Black students have expressed to me. By disconnected, I mean an identity that appears to be separate from someone or not fitting well together or understanding each other. I would later come to understand this concept as alienation. Being disconnected in the context of this lived experience also includes lack of access to a clear, uninterrupted version of one’s Black identity. For many in poor, Black communities, there are limitations to what we have access to that resembles and expresses our identities, thus, what little we may interact with in predominately white places and spaces is compromised by what we have access to. In many instances, these are not the most empowering images and representations of that. This happens a lot within the discipline of political science which has few major Black figures, both in its American setting and in its institutional practices. My experience in Black politics focused on combining my identity with what I was learning. Thus, one of the major relationships that the lived experience in this text highlights is racial unity. Racial unity, in particular for Black Americans who represent a numerical and political minority, has social, political, and economic implications. In electoral politics, Black voters use the group’s well-being as a proxy for their own interests, which some have labeled the Black utility heuristic (Wamba, 1999). Other studies suggest racial identity and social pressure shape Blacks into an electoral monolith. The idea is that Blacks vote similarly as a show of racial solidarity.

Another explanation is that, despite their ideological diversity, Black voters prioritize civil rights issues. Essentially, the polarized civil rights stances of the parties have turned Blacks into single-issue voters. This results in Blacks being a captured minority, wherein they have no viable alternative to the Democratic Party. Much of the Black political experience in America, especially in its contemporary context, starts and begins with the Democratic Party. The modern Democratic Party is associated with progressive causes, like welfare and universal health care, that are perceived to be of more central importance to Black Americans. Over half of Black Americans surveyed in 2016 believed that the economy was getting worse, and over 40 percent believed that Blacks were falling behind economically. Since then, only one in ten Black voters in the survey believed that Black people are getting ahead economically, and that sentiment holds broadly across age and education groups. Over three-quarters of all Black voters believe the country is generally heading in the wrong direction (Newkirk, 2018). Eighty-nine percent of Black voters believe racism in the country has gotten worse since 2016, the same proportion believes racism is prevalent in America, and over half believe that one of the key shifts in American politics has been a renewed attack on Black Americans. Even when a Black electorate has the choice between two African American candidates, with one candidate running as a Republican who emphasizes traditional values, and the competing candidate running as a Democrat who supports gay marriage and abortion, the Democrat still wins the majority of African American votes (Kidd et al., 2007). Authors have found that despite the Republican candidate’s highlighted support of issues important to African Americans, the Democratic label had more of an effect on African American voting behavior. Although the social issues highlighted in the election such as abortion and gay marriage were important to African Americans, they were not issues central to African Americans as a group. It is with the backdrop of this history that I explore my own political realities and how I would approach my education in political science.

Last, there are the concepts of politics and politicking. Politics is the process that determines what government does and it is an important theme within these pages. It comprises all the activities of cooperation, negotiation, and conflict within and between individuals, groups, and cultures, whereby people go about organizing the use, production, or distribution of human, natural, and other resources in the course of the production and reproduction of their biological and social lives (Leftwich, 2004). Politicking is the performative aspect of politics and refers to the tactics needed to acquire or retain the power of politics itself (Palonen, 2003). Government is the system by which decisions are implemented through the political process. The role of government is to arguably serve two broad purposes: to provide order and to promote general welfare.

The final major concept that guides this lived experience is political ideology. A political ideology represents a cohesive set of ideas and beliefs used to organize and evaluate the political world and help shape an individual’s specific beliefs. Ultimately, it forms the basis for how we perceive the world around us. Political ideologies are associated with power structures. Politicians seek power. Their political ideology and the social, economic, and political circumstances of their time influence what politicians do with that power. The use of power always takes place within the framework of a particular ideology. As a result, modern politics can only be properly understood by reference to the great ideological movements of the modern era: conservatism, liberalism, socialism, nationalism, fascism, and so on.

All of the evidence of racial politics in America points to a unique interplay of economic and racial factors that form a continuum